But as the hulking heavyweight recently told TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com), the official radio partner of MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com), things changed in a flash.

“I remember when he got me to the ground it was just, ‘I need to get up and get out of here,'” Carwin said. “I felt that I was up right next to the fence, and those are some of the stand-ups that we worked in training.

“We went over a lot of stuff being on bottom. I’m always training that constantly. But I’m always staying composed. I kept breathing and stayed relaxed. When we got back up to our feet, I felt refreshed.”

A fresh, or refreshed, Carwin has proven to be dangerous in his three-and-a-half year career, and Gonzaga learned it the hard way. Just 69 seconds into the bout, and just as quickly as it appeared he was cruising to victory, Gonzaga found himself on the losing end of a devastating flurry of punches.

“He got the best of me early, and that’s the kind of stuff that I love,” Carwin said. “That’s why I like the fight game.

“It was good for me to go through that adversity. I got hit by Gonzaga a couple times hard. Even him being able to take me down. He’s a top-level Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, and to be able to get out from underneath him and get back on our feet and get going after it again, all that stuff was really good for me. I was really looking for a war.”

Carwin, of course, is well known as the up-and-coming stud who has yet to make it halfway through the first round. His conditioning is still seen as suspect. But then again, until recently, so was his jaw.

“First it was, ‘How good of a chin does he have?'” Carwin said. “These last couple of fights, I think I’ve been hit. I think Gabe hits as hard as anyone in the heavyweight division. He’s a big heavyweight.

“Now the next thing is my conditioning. I think getting hit like that and being able to rebound that fast I think answers some things about conditioning.

“I feel better as the rounds go on. I feel like I get more relaxed and more comfortable and just better as the fight goes on. So I think conditioning is an asset of mine. That fight will come some day when pushed to that third or fifth round, whatever happens. But it’ll happen.”

In three fights, Carwin has yet to fight three total minutes in the UFC’s famed octagon. Some would say that leaves questions that need to be answered. But with Saturday’s performance, the 33-year-old showed that he is willing to face the challenges.

“I think [the win over Gonzaga] speaks even a little greater words of the type of fighter I am and the type of character I have — just that never-give-up attitude,” Carwin said. “I come to fight. I like to brawl. And maybe someday I’ll get that left hand up a little higher so I don’t get hit so many times.”

This story, written by John Morgan, was produced by TAGG Radio (www.taggradio.com) specially for MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com). The show — which is hosted by fighter/broadcaster Frank Trigg, Gorgeous George and ace producer Goze — books some of the biggest names in MMA. Download all the former episodes at www.taggradio.com, or tune into TAGG Radio’s live shows Monday-Friday at noon ET/9 a.m. PT.

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